OCR Text |
Show Peculiar Nests of Birds. Swallows and house mnrtlns build by sticking together pellets of prepared pre-pared rond mud. Most of tho material ma-terial Is obtained from tho drying puddles pud-dles on tho high roads. If not mixed with anything else, tho tendency of thcso pellets would bo to crumble whon dry. But the swallow trlbo is supplied with a mucous secretion which enables it to gum tho particles together. Tho swallows' nosts, from which tho Chlneso "bird's-nest soup" Is made, aro constructed of this mucous matter only. An Indian swallow, swal-low, which builds llttlo boat-shaped nests against tho trunks of lofty trees, practically makes them ot dried salvia. |